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My Friends, Dare To Think About What The
Future Could Be…
2.3.2008
By Gerald A. Honigman, eKurd.net Contributing Writer
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March 2, 2008
Gerald A. Honigman, ekurd.net
I’ve watched the recent Turkish invasion of Iraqi
Kurdistan closely.
I have not commented until now because I have
written extensively about what’s needed previously.
What I will now say I’ve largely said before, but
it’s now time to reassert what I believe to be hard
truths to two friends.
I cannot condemn Ankara’s decision to invade Iraqi
Kurdistan anymore than I could condemn Israel’s
decision to go after Arabs who target Jews from
Gaza, Judea and Samaria (renamed only recently in
history the “West Bank”), and so forth. I’m glad to
see that, for whatever reasons, the Turks have now
withdrawn. |
Gerald A. Honigman is a Florida educator who has done extensive
doctoral studies in Middle Eastern Affairs. He has created and
conducted counter-Arab propaganda programs for college youth, has
lectured on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has publicly
debated many Arab spokesmen. His articles and op-eds have been
published in dozens of newspapers, magazines, academic journals and
websites all around the world. |
The PKK’s refuge in
Iraqi Kurdistan was an open invitation for a Turkish
invasion. I’m surprised it took so long in the
coming. And I wrote that in the Kurdish media itself
long ago.
Having said this, there’s another hard series of
truths…
Unlike the plight of one fifth of Turkey’s
population who are Kurds, Israel’s Arab population
(also one fifth of Israel) are the freest Arabs
anywhere in the Middle East. Despite many of the
latter composing a real fifth column (siding with
fellow Arabs who call for Israel’s total
destruction), Arab language, culture, political
rights, and so forth flourish in the land of the
Jews.
Perfection? No…but compared to the plight of
non-Arabs in so-called “Arab ” lands--especially
those whom the Arabs call “their” kilab yahud (Jew
dogs),www.ekurd.net
the Jews who are left
(more Jews fled those lands to Israel than Arabs who
fled Israel)--Israeli Arabs live in Paradise. Just
ask black African Sudanese in Darfur and southern
Sudan, for starters (and Copts, Kurds, Assyrians,
Amazigh/Berbers, and so forth).
I was pleased to hear that the Kurdish Workers Party
(PKK) recently invited Turkey to hold talks to
resolve differences, while the President of Iraq's
Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani, expressed
readiness to contribute to finding a peaceful
solution to the problem. This is not the first time
they’ve extended these invitations either.
In a statement, the PKK expressed a readiness to
seek a peaceful solution to the issue of Kurds in
Turkey through mediation by the government of Iraq's
Kurdish Region and supported the KRG’s call for
establishing dialogue.
On his part, President Barzani expressed his
readiness to "actively participate" in finding a
peaceful solution to the PKK-Turkish problem, which
he hoped would "end violence in the region and build
better relations of cooperation and consolidate
security and stability for our people."
On the surface, this might appear to just be just
wishful thinking. But U.S. Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates’s statement openly addressing the need
for Ankara to address the real grievances of Turkish
Kurds seems to be a welcome new development. I don’t
recall an American official vocalizing this as
firmly prior to now.
Let’s step back again…
Over the past century in particular, after the
collapse of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the wake
of World War I, the Kurds were renamed Mountain
Turks, had their language and culture outlawed, etc.
and so forth to insure that the new, constricted
Turkey which arose with Mustafa Kemal--Ataturk--would
suffer no further geographical losses.
Understandable, but not a just solution to the
problem. After all, long before a Turk or Arab was
in that vicinity, Kurds long lived there.
Turkey has been a valuable ally of America and has
resisted Islamic extremism better than any other
Muslim country. It also has relatively good
relations with Israel…especially when its relations
with neighboring Syria take a dive.
So, as with my Kurdish friends, I truly wish nothing
but good for our Turkish friends as well.
But, as I’ve written often before and will repeat
until it sinks in, friends should be able to
disagree and still remain friends.
When Israel goes after Hamas terror masters, Ankara
is quick to criticize and lecture about the need to
create the Arabs’ 22nd state and second, not first,
one in “Palestine”--Jordan having surfaced on some
80% of the original April 25, 1920 territory over
the past century. Turkey knows full well what the
Arabs’ plans are for the Jewish State,www.ekurd.net
yet makes these demands
anyway. But talk about the need for justice for 35
million truly stateless Kurds, and Ankara goes
ballistic.
Turkey is some forty times as large as Israel
geographically and eleven times larger in
population.
Despite this, Ankara sees nothing wrong, after
demanding the creation of the Arabs’ 22nd state,
with telling Kurds--who have been massacred and
subjugated in all the lands where they have lived in
the new nationalist era--that they must remain
forever in that stateless condition because of the
potential threat independence in Iraqi Kurdistan
might have to Turkey. The Turks fear the effect this
will have on their own large, adjacent--and
suppressed-- Kurdish population.
As we all know, the fear is well founded, and I
understand it.
But if a Turkey which dwarfs Israel in size and
population has reason to fear this, then what is
Israel to say?
Again, one fifth of Israel is Arab…like the fifth of
Turkey which is Kurd. Yet the Jews are told by
virtually all--including Turks--that they must allow
yet another Arab state, dedicated to their very
destruction, to be set up in their backyard.
Keep in mind that whatever its flaws may be, the PKK
does not seek Turkey’s destruction. The calls for
independence by some largely are sired by real,
unaddressed grievances--as Secretary Gates
acknowledged.
Despite the potential for problems, justice does not
demand that Kurds remain forever politically
powerless in the nationalist age. A miniscule Israel
faces worse problems regarding such things but is
expected to allow for the creation of yet another
rejectionist Arab state.
So, what’s to be done?
Once again repeating what I’ve written earlier,
there is no doubt that the Kurds must do what the
Arabs refuse to do…
Iraqi Kurdistan must show Ankara that an independent
or highly autonomous Iraqi federal Kurdish region
will not be a threat. Had it done so earlier, a
Turkish invasion--even with Ankara eying Kurdish
oil--would not have occurred or at least wouldn’t
have been justified.
As President Barzani (whose late father will forever
be a hero of mine) has stated above, there must be
serious discussions with the PKK about what the
greater good for Kurdistan will require. This means
Kurdish leaders must get their own acts together as
well…beyond protecting their own virtual
fiefdoms--be they Talabani, Barzani, or whomever. If
need be, they must use military force to subdue
their own extremists.
Hopefully, it will not come to this. And nothing
will be expected in this regard if the Turks don’t
show that they will be willing to grant Iraqi Kurds
the same right to have in one of which they expect
Israel to allow Arabs to have almost two dozen of.
Ankara must also seriously address the rights of
Turkish Kurds as well instead of collaborating with
both Syria and Iran in suppression of their
respective Kurdish populations.
There is room for coexistence and cooperation if
both peoples can get beyond their fears. A brighter
future awaits them. Besides problems with the PKK,
there are already real benefits materializing for
Turks in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Both have a history of opposing Islamic extremism,
though some are to be counted amongst both
populations.
Kurds from Turkey, Syria, Iran, and elsewhere
wanting to live in an independent Kurdish state can
have in Iraqi Kurdistan what Jews have in a reborn
Israel.
Like formerly truly stateless Jews, Kurds have
suffered greatly because of this political
powerlessness.
Again, renaming Arabs “Palestinians” (most of whom
came from elsewhere) does not change the fact that
Arabs have almost two dozen states--conquered from
mostly non-Arab peoples. If there is a rough analogy
to the Jews, it is the Kurds, not the Arabs. The
Turks especially must also understand this since,
besides Turkey, there are also a half dozen other
Turkish states.
Both Turks and Kurds must examine each others needs
and fears.
The future can be a promising one for both peoples.
While Arabs of different stripes blow each other
apart, Turks and Kurds have mostly shown that they
want no part of this sort of thing. Positive
nationalism is better than negative nationalism.
Think of the possibilities which can arise if both
peoples can get themselves to grant each other the
humanity and respect both deserve.
Turkish Kurds must understand that the realm of the
Turks will not see itself geographically split
again. But this does not mean that Kurds should
continue to be suppressed in Turkey. To insure
Turkey’s integrity, the Turks have demanded
Turkification of all who live there. This needs to
be changed drastically. Imagine the outcry if Israel
was doing this sort of thing to Arabs.
Ironically, Kurdish autonomy or independence in
Iraqi Kurdistan has the potential to ease these very
problems…under the right conditions.
Having the potential to live in a Kurdish-ruled area
will give Kurds everywhere less grievance and reason
to resort to violence.
Will there be risks and problems?
Of course. There is much that will be needed to be
worked out. And all thirty or forty million Kurds
will not fit into Iraqi Kurdistan.
But reasonable people can come up with reasonable
solutions.
It’s time for both peoples to look ahead for a
better future for both of their children…something
Arabs who use their kids as human shields and who
send them on suicide missions in pursuit of their
own one-sided version of justice have proven
incapable of doing.
eKurd.net,
Copyright by Gerald A. Honigman. You may reach the
author via email at: honigman6 (at) msn.com .
Gerald A. Honigman is a Florida educator who has
done extensive doctoral studies in Middle Eastern
Affairs. He has created and conducted counter-Arab
propaganda programs for college youth, has lectured
on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has
publicly debated many Arab spokesmen. His articles
and op-eds have been published in dozens of
newspapers, magazines, academic journals and
websites all around the world. Visit his
website at
http://www.geraldahonigman.com/
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